When a Book’s Spine Gets into an Accident
by Kaitlyn Harrison
Virginia Commonwealth University
Kaitlyn Harrison is currently a senior majoring in mass communications with a concentration in creative advertising and a minor in creative writing. She is also the current Editor-in-Chief at plain china: The Best Undergraduate Writing. This is her first publication. If you’d like to see more of what she’s up to, follow her writing account @i_like_yourbookmark on Instagram.
When a Book’s Spine Gets into an Accident
I laugh at you
grasping at the book
in the console.
Stare
as the chemicals burn
into parts of your arm
and ignore the way
I can no longer feel
the back of my seat
against my skin.
In the same minute,
your face cracks
against the belly
of the windshield
exposing
overlapping veins
that held together
the tissue of your cheeks
knowing
slender threads
of your clotting blood
aren’t enough
to bind you back to your bones.
The sweet tea
unglues the pages
from their thick covering.
Its stories soggy paper now,
inky lungs
drowning
in sugar and smoke
poured out
by a Styrofoam cup and airbag.
The binding frays
while strings
lose their bearing.
There is ugliness
to a book
when it remembers
the worst of our moments
while still holding on
to its own.
Interview With The Author
1. What was your inspiration for this piece?
The inspiration for my poem “When a Book’s Spine Gets into an Accident” came from my own experience of getting into a car accident with one of my best friends. Every time I say this it sounds so cliché, but the movies got it right when they show a crash. Your mind moves slowly while everything outside of yourself moves too fast. You know what’s happening, but you can’t do anything to lessen the impact in that moment. Our car accident wasn’t as severe as what’s shown in the poem, but I borrowed images such as my friend’s chemical burns, the injury to my spine, the cracked windshield, and the sweet tea to give it a solid foundation. Part of the poem is me reliving the events while also recognizing it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Up to that point, I had never known how quickly a beautiful life story could become so damaged and ugly.
2. What is your creative process?
I always start my creative process with just a single thought. Something will pop into my mind and I’ll think “Oh, that’s an interesting idea. What if it could be reworked into a story?” Before diving into the writing, I have to find music that will help set the mood or tone of the piece I’m about to work on. From there, it’s just learning how to tinker and critique my own work. Sometimes, that means throwing out the entire piece and starting over. Other times, it means rearranging what I already have.
3. What are some influences on your artistic process?
Music has always influenced my artistic process the most. Without fail, I have my Nora Jones Pandora playlist in the background whenever I’m writing.
4. Is there anything more you’d like our readers/viewers to know about you or your work?
I’d just like my readers to know that all of my work comes from the little things that have happened in my life. Sometimes, I write pieces based off big events, but more times, it’s a tiny memory that sparks something. For anyone who says they don’t have anything to write about, I say that you simply haven’t looked deep enough yet.